Wheeler and the Red Sox will continue to discuss a possiblereturn to Boston, but Wheeler is free to pursue otherpossibilities. Had the Warwick native accepted salary arbitration,he would have been considered a signed player with the Red Sox andwould have been due a little more than last year's $3 millionsalary.

Wheeler last season compiled a 4.38 ERA in 47 relief appearancesin a season that can be broken down into two distinct parts. Beforea May stint on the disabled list with what was called a strainedcalf, he had an 11.32 ERA in 11 appearances. After he came off thedisabled list, he had a 2.54 ERA in 36 appearances.

Wheeler never did seem to get into the good graces of formermanager Terry Francona, pitching mostly in low-leverage situationsunless the rest of the bullpen was depleted. When the Red Soxdeclined his option, the righty expressed a preference to find ateam in which he could play a more significant role than he didlast season. With Francona gone and Bobby Valentine in place, thatcould still be the Red Sox.

Bard role unknown

Valentine does not yet know for sure whether he'll have DanielBard as a starting pitcher or as his closer when the season beginsApril 5.

Bard has made clear he is willing to pitch in whichever role theRed Sox envision him. That, in some ways, makes the decision alittle more difficult.

Valentine said Wednesday that he has told Bard to prepare forthe season as a starting pitcher with the expectation that everyonemight have to adjust accordingly. If the Red Sox sign or trade fora closer, Bard would fit best as a starter. If the Red Sox sign twofree-agent starting pitchers, Bard might wind up at the back end ofthe bullpen.

"Talking to him on the phone, he seems like a guy everyone wants- 'I'll do what's right for the team. If you need me to close, I'llclose. If you need me to start, I'll start,' " Valentine said."That's the greatest thing in the world, and it could also be theworst thing in the world because I don't think it's fair to him toput him in that position.

"That being said, we're going to put him in that position."

If Bard begins to feel strongly about one role or the other,however, that's the direction the Red Sox likely will go. That,Valentine said, will be the way to get the most out of him.

"Commitment is always part of the equation," he said. "If he'stotally committed to being a starter, I think he'll be successful.If he's totally committed to being a closer, he'll be successful. Ithink he has extreme talent."

On to Beckett

When Valentine got in touch with Josh Beckett this week, the twohad to briefly work out their old issues.

Valentine had criticized Beckett's pace during a Sunday nightgame with the Yankees this season, and Beckett wasn't pleased withit.

"You know, I did reach out to Josh, and he didn't want me to sayanything, so I'm not going to say anything other than after he gotthrough telling me how [angry] he was, we had a really goodconversation," said Valentine. "I'm not going to say anything aboutit."

Valentine has made an effort to contact all of his new players,finding success for the most part. He said he still hadn't beenable to talk to Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jed Lowrie and Carl Crawfordamong others.

"I texted [Crawford], and I want to meet him if he wants to meetme before spring training, and that would mean leaving here, goingthere, leaving Boston, going there, him being somewhere where I am,something like that, where we could just do a little face to face,"Valentine said. "I think that he deserves my reaching out to him,and I'm trying to do that."

Coaching lineup

Tim Bogar, Dave Magadan and Gary Tuck will return to the Red Soxcoaching staff in 2012, Valentine said Wednesday.

Former bench coach DeMarlo Hale will not, having accepted a jobwith the Baltimore Orioles.

Magadan and Tuck will remain in their present roles as thehitting coach and bullpen coach, respectively. Bogar, currently thethird-base coach, may switch to a different role, Valentinesaid.

Valentine spoke to the four coaches still under contract "aboutability, about passion and about commitment." He said that whileBogar, Magadan and Tuck showed "their commitment is at the samelevel," Hale was less on board, with his role on staffuncertain.

"I had to be truthful with him that it would be uncertain, otherthan he'd be on the coaching staff, and we talked about hiscommitment at this time to another manager and the oldorganization," Valentine said. "He felt that it would probably bebest if he brought his talents to another team, and I understoodthat totally.

"He wasn't a managerial candidate, and I get that. If you're amanager in waiting and you're not a candidate.... When I wasn'tthought to be a candidate in some places and I was kind of sittingout there wondering if I'd ever really get a job again, I didn'treally like those guys who didn't put me on the list."

The Red Sox still have three openings remaining to fill:pitching coach, bench coach and first-base coach. Of those,Valentine said finding a pitching coach is the most important andthus may take the longest.

"We're probably going to take a lot of time to decide," saidValentine. "I don't mean months, because I need that guy yesterdayto start talking about what we're going to do. But we're going totry to get the best possible guy, and it's going to take a while toweed through that."

Bedard exit

The Red Sox did not have many substantive conversations withstarting pitcher Erik Bedard before the left-hander signed withPittsburgh, according to general manager Ben Cherington.

Bedard hooked up with the Pirates on a one-year deal worth $4.5million, with various incentives built in.

"We didn't have a lot of substantive conversations with him,"Cherington said Wednesday. "We enjoyed our time with Erik. Itdidn't end up the way he wanted it; it didn't end the way we wantedit. But [he's] a good guy and a talented guy and it seems like hegot himself in a good spot."

After being acquired from Seattle at the trade deadline, Bedardmade eight starts over the final two months for the Red Sox, going1-2 with a 4.03 ERA. Boston dealt minor-leaguers Tim Federowicz,Stephen Fife, Juan Rodriguez and Chih-Hsien Chiang in thetrade.

The issue for Bedard has always been health, and it seems likelythe Red Sox are looking for more reliable low-cost options thanhim. Bedard hasn't thrown even 150 innings since 2007. He threw 1291/3 last season between his time with the Mariners and Red Sox.

tbritton@providencejournal.com

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